Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge, Singapore Changi Terminal 4

Cathay Pacific finally reopened its highly-rated Singapore lounge in February 2023, the last of the oneworld lounges to resume operations at Changi Airport post-COVID.

With nine daily flights to Singapore (now reduced to eight) and their relative isolation in Terminal 4, it’s understandable why Cathay Pacific felt the need to build their own lounge. Less understandable is why they moved to Terminal 4 in the first place, given how it was designed for budget carriers, and only has four gates for widebody aircraft!

In any case, this is a great little lounge, and oneworld is better off for having it. It’s not exactly straightforward to visit if you’re flying out of Terminals 1-3, but not impossible either!

Opening Hours & Access

The Cathay Pacific Lounge at Singapore Changi Airport is located post-security in Terminal 4, on level 2M. After clearing immigration, head through the duty-free maze and keep going straight until you see an escalator up to the mezzanine level. It’s difficult to miss, as there’s only two lounges in this entire terminal: the Cathay Pacific Lounge, and the Blossom Lounge for Priority Pass, Dragon Pass and other lounge memberships. 

The lounge opens from three hours before the first CX flight departure until last departure. Based on the current schedule of eight daily flights, that would make the operating hours 3.40 a.m to 1.25 a.m daily. 

If you’re departing from T1, T2 or T3, but want to visit this lounge as part of a oneworld lounge safari, it can still be done. 

I would recommend checking in and clearing immigration at your departure terminal, before taking the airside inter-terminal bus from T1 to T4. Simply explain to the staff that you wish to visit the lounge in T4, and provided there’s at least three hours to go before your departure, you’ll be permitted to do so. 

Buses between T1 to T4 run every 13 minutes, and travel in a loop from:

Be sure to leave sufficient time to return to your departure terminal, especially if it’s not T1!

Access to the Cathay Pacific Lounge is available to:

• First or Business Class passengers departing on a Cathay Pacific or oneworld flight
• Cathay Silver, Gold or Diamond members departing on a Cathay Pacific flight in any cabin
• Cathay Gold or Diamond and oneworld Emerald or Sapphire members departing on a Cathay Pacific or oneworld flight in any cabin
• First or Business Class passengers arriving on a Cathay Pacific or oneworld flight with a duration >5 hours and connecting to a same-day (or following day before 6 a.m) Cathay Pacific or oneworld flight in any cabin (retain your boarding pass from the inbound flight to gain access)

Cathay Diamond members are permitted to bring in two guests, while First Class, Cathay Gold, and oneworld Emerald or Sapphire members may bring one guest. All guests must be travelling on a oneworld-operated flight.

Cathay members may redeem 11,000 Asia Miles in exchange for a lounge pass, regardless of which airline they are flying on. This can be done in advance online, or instantly at the lounge reception.

Lounge Overview

In October 2017, Cathay Pacific was the first airline to move to Changi T4 (along with Korean Air), and the lounge opened the very same day. The interior design was overseen by Studioilse, Ilse Crawford’s design firm; you’ll recognise their work from other Cathay Pacific Lounges worldwide, including Hong Kong (especially The Pier) and London.

The 849m²  lounge has a capacity for 210 guests, and given T4’s isolation from T1/2/3, almost exclusively hosts Cathay Pacific guests. Consequently, there are some periods in between flights where it’s practically empty, which is when I swooped in to take photos.

The first thing you’ll see upon entering the lounge is the dining hall, but taking a left turn and walking down the open air corridor will get you to the buffet and lounging area.

The buffet area offers bar stool seating and communal dining tables, all with easy access to the buffet line. While there’s food and drinks here, it tends to play second fiddle compared to the main dining hall, where the Noodle Bar is. 

There are also a small number of two-seater tables that overlook the T4 concourse below through full-height glass panels.

Further in is the main lounging area, which is tastefully decorated with grey and brown sofas and armchairs. The lounge has a semi-open design, so you will get some noise from the concourse below- which isn’t that bad really; I find it adds atmosphere.

Unlike its flagship lounges in Hong Kong, the Singapore lounge does not have a darkened area for snoozing. I suppose the thought process here was that  Cathay passengers typically aren’t having long layovers, but when you’re on the last flight of the day at 1.25 a.m, you’ll appreciate any opportunity to snooze!

That said, you can find a few armchairs with ottomans towards the rear of the lounge, overlooking the G12 gate. These are the quietest spot in the lounge, and probably the best place to grab a nap.

Another thing I appreciated was the physical reading materials. With so many lounges using COVID as an excuse to get rid of these, it’s good to see Cathay Pacific still stocking them. Seriously, we’re staring at screens enough as it is; sometimes what you really want is a good old fashioned magazine. 

The dining hall features booths for groups of two and four, plus a pair of communal tables and bar stool seating for spillover. This is also where you’ll find Cathay’s famous Noodle Bar.

What’s missing here is a version of the Long Bar, Cathay’s flagship manned bar that can be found in Hong Kong and some other outstations. 

Apparently, Cathay’s surveys during the design phase told them that Singaporeans prioritise food over drinks, and with a limited footprint to work with, a decision was made to allocate space to the Noodle Bar instead. 

In a small annex near the lounge entrance is a space called the Bureau, a work area with three chairs, desktop computers, and a printer. There’s also one monitor available for you to plug in your own laptop. These aren’t productivity pods — you’re completely exposed to everyone else — but still the best spot in the lounge for getting work done. 

Food & Beverage

The Cathay Pacific Lounge splits dining into two main areas: the buffet, and the dining hall. 

The cold section of the buffet area offered a selection of cheeses, as well as four kinds of salad- salad leaves, quinoa, pasta and cucumber. 

Four hot items were served during my visit: olive fried rice, roasted vegetables, eggplant moussaka, and chicken ala king. The selection is different during breakfast, though my understanding is that lunch and dinner have the same menu.

But the real highlight of the lounge isn’t the food warmers. It’s the dining hall, where the Noodle Bar serves noodles and dim sum items made to order. Some items (like wonton noodles) are staples, but others get rotated every few weeks to prevent monotony. 

The wonton noodles are a signature dish and a must-try. Springy noodles paired with plump wontons and piping hot broth really hits different in a cold airport terminal. I also had the prawn noodles, but I felt they went too heavy on the oil with this. The seafood siu mai and steamed BBQ pork buns were both great, much better than anything you’d find in a usual airport lounge anyway.

The dining hall also has a small self-serve area with soft drinks, desserts, fresh fruit and cookies. A WMF coffee machine and JING teabags could also be found here.

Other drink options included three kinds of juices and San Pellegrino sparkling water- which makes the Dasani still water seem rather cheap by comparison! There were no individual bottles of water though, whether by choice or oversight. Given that T4 has centralised security, you can in fact bring bottles of water onboard. 

Where booze is concerned, the Cathay Pacific Lounge offers a small selection of spirits and two red and white wines, plus Moet & Chandon champagne. It’s not a favourite of mine, I must admit (most of the money goes towards marketing rather than winemaking), but champagne is becoming an endangered species in Business Class lounges, so it’s still a welcome sight nonetheless. 

Power & Productivity

Wi-Fi speeds in the lounge clocked in at 10 Mbps down and up. These are very average speeds, made more surprising by the fact the lounge wasn’t very full at the time I did the test. Over in T1, the Qantas Lounge easily manages triple-digit speeds, even when crowded!

When the Cathay Pacific Lounge first opened, power outlets accepted local Type G plugs only. Thankfully, that’s now been rectified with universal power outlets. These are widely available throughout the lounge, built into the sides of furniture or beneath tables. There are also USB-A ports and a limited number of USB-C ports for fast charging. 

Bathrooms

The Cathay Pacific Lounge has male and female restrooms, which were kept spotlessly clean throughout my visit.

Prior to COVID, Cathay Pacific stocked its lounges and lavatories with Aesop handwash. That’s now been replaced with Bamford (which is still a decent brand, never mind the snobs)- but not in Singapore. Unfortunately, the amenities here are kept in non-descript black bottles. Does anyone know what they are?

The main thing that’s missing here are showers. 

Cathay Pacific says that the decision to exclude showers was made based on the low number of connecting passengers using the lounge, with single digits on a typical day. That said, there’s no doubt many passengers arriving at the airport after a full day of work, who would surely appreciate a place to freshen up before flying (remember, there’s no arrival lounge in Hong Kong to look forward to either). There could also be passengers who build their own connections across separate tickets and find themselves with a long layover and no place to shower.

If you do want to shower, you’ll need to head to the Blossom Lounge instead, which you can access with Dragon Pass, Priority Pass or LoungeKey.

Conclusion

The Cathay Pacific Lounge in Singapore is a great outstation facility that offers a relaxing place to unwind, work or grab a bite before your flight. In a way, its isolated location is as much as bug as a feature- because it’s so remote, you don’t often get passengers from other oneworld partners coming over here, which means the lounge is rarely overcrowded. 

The main shortcomings are the lack of shower facilities and the middling Wi-Fi speeds. Some will also lament the lack of a tended bar, and I feel they could just have about squeezed one into the buffet area if they really wanted to. 

If you’re departing from another terminal and have sufficient time, I think there’s enough here to warrant a visit, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s something you have to do every time, given the strength of oneworld’s lineup in Terminal 1.